


The Swimming Pool

by ParkerCat



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:35:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23120338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParkerCat/pseuds/ParkerCat
Summary: What would happen if the boys took a tumble into the pool?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	The Swimming Pool

Gordon’s morning swim was a routine he’d followed for almost as long as he could remember and he enjoyed the peaceful time where he could relax without everyone around more than he let on. He loved being the joker of the family, and mostly thrived on the company of his brothers and sister but he had to admit that it was nice to have a bit of time to himself with no chance of anyone disturbing him. The pool was calm and inviting as he approached, towel slung over his shoulder and a tracksuit on over his trunks to protect him from the cool morning air. As there were no stray brothers lurking ready to push him in, he decided to walk right along the edge of the pool like a tightrope on his way to the nearest lounger where he could dump his stuff. Suddenly, his world lurched sideways and he landed with a splash in the water. Struggling to the surface he looked around in bewilderment expecting to hear laughter and see a retreating back but was greeted by nothing but birdsong and the lap of the newly disturbed water on the sides of the pool. Feeling his wet clothes heavy on his body, he wriggled out of them while treading water and retrieved his floating towel before it sank, throwing them onto the nearest lounger to dry off. An examination of the side of the pool revealed a number of loose tiles to be the cause of his sudden dunking, most likely caused by the repeated shockwaves from TB1’s launch. Pushing himself off the side of the pool into an easy backstroke, Gordon pondered the possibilities that may have just been presented to him by this new knowledge.

Unusually, Alan was the next brother to appear by the pool some time later and Gordon was just finishing his usual workout as his only younger brother wandered past. Taking the opportunity, Gordon shouted on him, only to be greeted by a raised eyebrow and suspicion as to his motives: “No, I’m not falling for that again!”

“Aww come on,” encouraged Gordon, moving into the middle of the pool. “Is this better? I’m not going to splash you or anything. I have an idea for something…”

Misgivings overruled by intrigue, Alan headed for the poolside to find out what plot was being hatched now. Unfortunately for Alan, this took him right to one of the loose tiles, which unceremoniously dropped him into the water with a yelp, much to Gordon’s delight.

“You found out my plan then…” Gordon cackled before a soaking Alan launched himself at him and submerged him, starting a water fight loud enough to rouse their middle brother from his morning coffee.

“Don’t you dare tell him! Just keep splashing and hope he doesn’t ask too many questions” Gordon whispered to Alan as Virgil approached, trying to get his still half-asleep brain into gear and figure out why Alan was in the pool with all his clothes on.

“What on earth are you two doing?” The two youngest Tracy’s turned as one and floated in the water trying to look as innocent as they could as their middle brother neared the edge of the pool. Gordon sensed Alan starting to open his mouth and quickly dunked him before he could say anything, knowing that his overly honest little brother was likely to give the game away by coming up with an elaborate explanation that would make no sense whatsoever. Just as Alan resurfaced, Virgil reached the edge of the pool and felt the edge of a tile lift under his weight.

“You pair of…” he exclaimed as he slithered resignedly into the water, somehow managing to place his coffee cup on the edge of the pool for later on his way past. He resurfaced to find Gordon and Alan nearly drowning themselves as they struggled to stay afloat while crying with laughter.

“You’ve got to admit, it’s a good way to wake up!” piped up Gordon between fits of giggles before retreating as fast as he could to the far end of the pool in case of a second attack. He was well aware of the dangers of a Virgil without the required 3 cups of coffee in his system.

“I think I’ll stick to the coffee thanks” grumbled Virgil, hauling himself up onto the side of the pool and stripping off his sodden shirt which landed with a splat on the ground next to him. Sitting with his feet still in the water, he picked up his coffee and continued drinking as if nothing had happened.

“Don’t tell Scott or John! We need to get them too or it’s not fair!” pleaded Gordon once he realised that any retribution coming his way wasn’t going to be swift.

Virgil looked down at the hopeful face of his brother. “OK, but we need to get these fixed so if you want to get them it needs to be soon” he replied, as Gordon and Alan nodded enthusiastically. “And if they try to kill you I know nothing and I’m not going to stop them…” he added before standing back up and heading into the house for a dry set of clothes and his second coffee of the morning.

Try as he might, Gordon couldn’t think of a way to get John up to the edge of the pool despite him being on the island. He’d spent the day locked away with Brains discussing modifications to Five, only emerging once the sun was down so that had ruled a lot of plans out but, later that night, John wandered out onto the pool deck to look at his beloved stars and have some time to himself. Gordon had been out on the lounge balcony watching John while wracking his brains and was about to give up and hope that inspiration struck overnight when his brother moved from his lounger to head back into the house. On his way past, something made John wander over to the pool and he bent down to trail his fingers in the cool water. As he was doing so, the earth suddenly shifted under him and deposited him abruptly into the pool. While John is no water baby like Gordon, he found the feeling of weightlessness in the water comforting and he spread himself out and enjoyed the sensation of floating for a few seconds until the sound of Gordons laughter filtered over to him. Looking up, he spotted his younger brother doubled over on the balcony having clearly been watching him but no longer paying attention. Quietly, John pulled himself out and moved like a (very wet) cat hunting its prey through the kitchen and up the stairs, not caring about the trail of water he was leaving behind him. As he entered the living room, Kayo raised a quizzical eyebrow at him but he pressed his finger to his lips and she remained silent with a small smile playing on her lips. It was not often that Gordon was caught off guard after a prank, and even if this particular one wasn’t exactly orchestrated by him, he was still going to get some payback for laughing. Somehow, Gordon was still incapacitated with laughter and didn’t hear his waterlogged brother approaching from behind before it was too late and he was caught in a soggy embrace.

Gordon knew that Scott followed a similar morning routine as he did but with an early morning run instead of a swim to clear the cobwebs away for the new day, so both he and Alan were up unusually early the next morning to put the final plan into action. As soon as the eldest was out of sight of the villa they set to work dragging all the loungers around the pool over to the side where Scott returned from his run and arranging them so that the only way past was to squeeze along the very edge of the pool. With this done, the only thing to do was wait. Having already been subject to the wobbly pool tiles themselves, Virgil and John both made sure they were present to see the finale of the inadvertent prank and were enjoying a coffee by the poolside. When Scott returned to the villa, he found the two youngest engaged in a game of bouncing a ball backwards and forwards along all the loungers. Smiling fondly to himself, he proceeded to make his way carefully along the side of the pool, alert to the likelihood of the ball being thrown at him and knocking him in. This distraction is exactly what Gordon was relying on and Scott completely missed the big red X that Virgil had painted on the offending tiles and stood directly on one. In slow motion, he tipped sideways into the pool, arms windmilling wildly in a vain attempt to stabilise himself. Spluttering for air, he surfaced with an exasperated “Gordon…” to find his all of his brothers helpless with laughter, their game and coffees abandoned.

“That was the best one yet!” wheezed Gordon, holding on to Alan as they both wiped tears of mirth from their eyes.

“Oh really?” asked Scott, with a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he hauled himself out of the pool and leapt over the loungers. Virgil arrived behind Gordon at the same moment and the brothers picked the prankster up with ease and tossed him into the pool. Up on the balcony, Kayo and Grandma simply looked at each other, smiled and sighed as the sound of all five brothers ending up in the water fully dressed and laughing filled the air.


End file.
